This invention relates to automatic callback and automatic recall and in particular to a method for service continuance upon expiration.
In traditional plain old telephone service (POTS), an attempt by a subscriber to connect to a line already in use results in a busy signal. The subscriber has to wait and attempt to connect again later.
As defined in xe2x80x9cBellcore TR-NWT-000215 CLASS Feature: Automatic Callback, Issue 3, June 1993xe2x80x9d (the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference), Automatic Callback xe2x80x9cACxe2x80x9d, which is requested by *66, is an outgoing call management feature that enables a customer encountering a busy station to perform an activation procedure and have call setup performed automatically when the called station becomes free.
As defined in xe2x80x9cBellcore TR-NWT-000227 CLASS Feature: Automatic Recall, Issue 3, July 1993xe2x80x9d (the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference), Automatic Recall xe2x80x9cARxe2x80x9d, which is requested by *69, is an incoming call management feature that enables a customer to perform an activation procedure and automatically redial the last incoming number without having to know the number or even who the calling party was.
Once AC/AR is activated, a status (busy or free) of the terminating and originating lines is checked periodically until a call setup is attempted or a timeout occurs. Should a timeout occur, the AC/AR service is automatically deactivated and resources are cleared without the calling party being notified of its cancellation.
The Bellcore standards define timers T6 and T10. Timer T6 specifies the duration of the current AC/AR request. The value suggested by Bellcore is 30 minutes. Currently, a user may reactivate AC/AR before timer T6 has expired, in which case timer T6 is reset to its starting value. Timer T10, the sanity timer, guards against indefinite subscriber reactivations. It is initialized at the first AC/AR activation and is not reset at each reactivation. The Bellcore suggested value is three hours.
With growth of Internet and on-line services, a trend exists toward longer holding times thus a higher probability of calling a line that is busy for longer than 30 minutes. According to xe2x80x9cUpgrading the CO: A Decongestant for Internet Blockage,xe2x80x9d Yankee Group Telecommunications White Paper, Volume 12, Issue 2, April 1997, average voice calls last three minutes and seldom more than 10 minutes. On the other hand, Internet calls average 18 minutes and a significant probability exists that they will last 40 minutes to several hours.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,605 issued Dec. 26, 1972 to Lee et al. discloses an automatic call-back system for automatic telephone exchanges. The system disclosed allows the calling party to make another call while call-back is in effect and was primarily designed for Private Branch Exchange systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,101 issued Jan. 10, 1978 to Chemarin allows for automatic communication establishment between two telephone subscribers of different exchanges. The identities of the calling party and the called party are transferred to the called exchange if the called line is busy, permitting disconnection of the two exchanges. The called""s line is thereafter monitored until becoming free upon which the calling party""s identity is utilized by the called party""s exchange for calling back the calling party. In accordance with an aspect of U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,101 the monitoring of the called""s line is maintained only for a pre-determined time period before the identities are annulled.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,042 issued Jun. 5, 1990 to Baral et al. relates to arrangements for providing a new spontaneous voice message service to any telephone customer at any telephone station when that customer encounters any destination that is busy or does not answer.
Current AC/AR features are limited in that the calling party is not notified when the AC/AR service times out. As well, some users may not be aware of the time limit, although an announcement may say that the monitoring is for 30 minutes. Some users, especially first time users, may not even think that AC/AR works because if the called line is busy longer than the time limit, no feedback is received. Due to this, people may only use AC once. A possibility also exists that a subscriber-may be notified that the once busy line is free, but by the time the subscriber picks up, the line is busy again. Therefore, circumstances may exist where the subscriber may pay for the feature without connecting or communicating with the called party either directly (e.g., person to person call) or indirectly (e.g., voice mail, pager, E-mail, etc.).
The method of the subject invention permits a user of an Automatic Callback or Automatic Recall service to receive an indication of the completion of a monitoring time. Upon being notified, the user may choose to continue monitoring for another time period, stop monitoring, send a voice mail or activate another service.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for handling automatic calling comprising: monitoring a terminating line; during said monitoring, automatically attempting call set-up when an originating line and said terminating line become free; if said call has not been completed during a pre-determined time, attempting to notify on said originating line.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for activating a service related to automatic call handling, said automatic call handling for monitoring a terminating line and automatically attempting call setup when an originating line and said terminating line become free, said method comprising: if said call setup has not been completed upon expiration of a pre-determined time, attempting to notify on said originating line; during said attempting to notify step, if said originating line goes off-hook, undertaking the following steps: providing a user of said originating line with a plurality of service options; receiving an indication of a preferred one of said plurality of service options from said user; and responsive to said indication, activating said preferred service.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer readable medium containing computer-executable instructions which, when performed by a processor in a communications system, cause the processor to: monitor a terminating line; automatically attempt call set-up when an originating line and the terminating line become free during the monitoring; and attempt to notify on the originating line if the call has not been completed during a pre-determined time.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a communications system comprising: a terminating telephone line; a terminating office; an originating telephone line; an originating office including a processor operable to: monitor said terminating line; during said monitoring, automatically attempt call set-up when said originating line and said terminating line become free; if said call has not been completed during a pre-determined time, attempt to notify on said originating line.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a communications system comprising: an originating telephone line; an originating office; terminating telephone line; a terminating office including a processor operable to: monitor said terminating line; during said monitoring, this is done by the originating office; only the monitoring is done by the terminating office.